EU referendum: Angela Merkel warns Britain 'you will never get results you want if you leave EU'

Commenting on the interventions by EU leaders into the UK's referendum debate, Boris Johnson said: "The EU's elites have hit the panic button.

"The Foreign Office is now desperately wheeling out foreign leaders to threaten the British people with retaliation if they dare to Vote Leave and take back control.

"The Germans and the Dutch must be worried that if we stop sending Brussels £350 million a week they will have to pick up our tab for the EU's largesse.

"Angela Merkel's claims that we will have more negotiating influence if we stay in the EU are completely hollow. David Cameron tried to get reforms to free movement but she blocked them. The only way we can take back control of our borders is if we Vote Leave.

"The IN campaign are panicking because they can see that people are turning against them and simply do not believe their relentless campaign of doom and gloom.

"New supporters and volunteers are joining Vote Leave in record numbers as we set out a positive vision of Britain freed from the shackles of Brussels.

"This is a great country, we are the fifth biggest economy in the world and we can flourish like never before if we vote to take back control  on June 23."

The economic pain of a Brexit would be widely shared across all income levels, new research suggests.

Analysis by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) appears to counter claims by Leave campaigners that the rich will bear the economic brunt of leaving the EU while the poor will be better off.

It instead found both the richest and poorest in society would be squeezed, while the middle classes will be marginally harder hit, facing short-term losses of up to £1,600 per household and a long-run cut of up to £5,550.

CEP director professor John Van Reenen said: "Some supporters of Brexit argue that the economic costs would only be borne by the elite and that most of the population, especially those on lower incomes, would be better off.

"This claim is plain wrong: our research shows that the pain would be evenly shared across the income distribution.

"Every group would lose by broadly similar proportions, though those in the middle would lose slightly more than others."

Report from PA

Monday 6 June: Hilary Benn, the shadow foreign secretary (Remain)

Wednesday 8 June: George Osborne, the Chancellor (Remain)

Friday 10 June: Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader (Leave)

Friday 17 June: Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary (Leave)

The Electoral Commission have admitted that a serious error has allowed some EU nationals to be included on the register for the referendum vote.

A spokesman said an emergency letter has been sent out to inform affected voters they are not eligible to vote and a system update has been issued to prevent more voters being mistakenly sent forms.

They refused to confirm the number of people affected but said in two separate councils a total of seven people were given ballot papers when they shouldn't have been.

They said: "Xpress [the voting registration system] confirmed that there was a systems issue which meant that if an operator had input registration information into the system in a particular way, their G marker (the mark against their entry on the register that indicates they are an EU citizen) may not have been set correctly."

They added that where an operator had entered the nationality of a voter manually and "moved away" from the page, it did not save the data and assumed the person was British. 

Report from Kate McCann 

Young people will be forced to live with their parents for longer if the UK does not vote to leave the EU, a former Tory minister has claimed.

The former defence secretary Liam Fox blamed rising rent costs and growing competition to buy homes on immigration as he appealed to young people to vote for Brexit.

The Vote Leave campaigner said there is no "realistic possibility" that money will be found to fund the extra infrastructure needed to match immigration levels.

The continuation of net migration at current levels, including the children of future migrants, could account for five  million more people in the UK in 15 years, around half of which would be EU citizens, he claimed.

Britain Stronger in Europe has fiercely rejected the claim.

They put out the following statement from Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader.

"A vote to Leave Europe will destroy young people’s hopes of getting on the housing ladder. People have legitimate concerns about immigration but these are not going to be answered by wrecking our economy – risking job losses and higher prices.

"Leaving would mean fewer jobs, higher prices and lower pay, making deposits harder or impossible to build up. And it means higher mortgage payments making first time loans less affordable."

Nigel Farage has staked £1,000 on Brexit and said he is "confident" of collecting on the wager.

The Ukip leader stands to win £2,500 - plus his original £1,000 - after putting the money on at odds of 5-2 at Ladbrokes.

He tweeted: "Just been down the bookies. We're gonna win this!"

Former City trader Mr Farage placed the bet at the bookies' Moorgate branch in London.

According to Ladbrokes' Brexit barometer, the current likelihood of a leave win is 27 per cent, with remain - the long term favourite - still odds-on at 3/10 (73 per cent chance).

Leave supporters like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have been accused of "wickedness" by a leading photographer backing the Remain campaign.

Turner prize winner Wolfgang Tillmans said quitting the European Union without a strategy would be "ludicrous", and hit out at Brexit backers who "insinuate" that the cash freed up by pulling out of the bloc would be spent on the NHS.

The controversial German photographer, whose work includes images of a half-naked man urinating on a chair, is among 14 artists who have created posters urging voters to keep Britain in the EU.

He has joined other significant artists - including Antony Gormley, whose works include the Angel of the North and Another Place on Crosby Beach, Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler and photographer Rankin - to create eye-catching images to win over voters.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor,  has weighed into the Brexit debate, warning at a press conference in Berlin "'you'll never get the results you want if you're not in the room". 

She said: "You will never get a really good result in negotiations, particularly on very important issues, when you're not in the room and giving input.

"I personally hope and wish that Britain will stay part and parcel of the European Union.

"We work well together with the United Kingdom, particularly perhaps when we talk about new rules for the European Union.

"We have to develop those together with the United Kingdom and whenever we negotiate that, you can much better have an influence on the debate when you sit at the bargaining table and you can give input into those negotiations.

"The result will invariably be better when you have that, rather than being outside of the room."

She made the comments at a news conference following talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at the Chancellery in Berlin. 

Ilford North MP Mr Streeting said on Twitter that the party should “not allow” the abuse of reporters.

But he added to PoliticsHome: "I think the Labour party needs to hold a mirror up to itself and ask if we really want our events to resemble Trump rallies where journalists are booed and hissed at for doing their job.

“We're meant to be a political party providing effective opposition and an alternative government, not a cult."

Shadow Justice Secretary Lord Falconer also told the Huffington Post: "It was a good speech, marred by the appalling hissing of the media.

"We should be doing nothing that's detrimental to the media doing their job."

Labour MP Pat McFadden, who Mr Corbyn sacked from his shadow cabinet, added: "The booing of a journalist for doing her job is wrong. It is not the culture we should have in the Labour Party."

And Labour MP Ian Lucas warned: "We must talk to people other than ourselves."

On a visit to Farmhouse Biscuits in Nelson, Lancashire, Boris Johnson said the UK should take back control of the "dough" it sends to Brussels.

At a speech in Vote Leave's London HQ, the Tory former defence secretary, said:  "The continuing failure of the eurozone and the tragically high levels of unemployment in southern Europe is likely to mean that more and more young people will head to the north of Europe, including the UK, in search of work.

"If we remain in the EU, if we have uncontrolled migration year after year after year after year, you will find it harder to get a home of your own.

"You will find it harder to see a GP or you will find it harder to get a school place and you will see our green spaces disappear at an even greater rate."

He later added: "It’s very clear that when the Remain side described the migration argument as a distraction that they didn’t understand the concerns of ordinary voters.”

The former Mayor of London has just auctioned a cow. 

Boris Johnson sold a "beautiful" and "contented" cow for £960 as he promised farmers that their funding would be protected in a post-Brexit Britain.

Visiting the Gisburn Auctions cattle market in Clitheroe, Lancashire, Mr Johnson told the crowd the UK would guarantee funding for farmers if the country votes to leave the EU on June 23.

Mr Johnson toured the site before auctioning off a cow, opening the bidding at £800.

Farmers then piled in with bids before progress stalled at £960.

Mr Johnson then prompted laughter as he said: "£960 for this beautiful Ribble Valley-reared ... what is she?"

Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and Michael Gove are on their second day of a Vote Leave tour around Lancashire. 

At a biscuit factory in Nelson Mr Johnson, dressed in a white coat and hairnet, said: "It's a very impressive operation they have got. I've never seen so much dough in all my life.

"But never forget no matter how much dough they have here it's nothing like the dough we are sending to Brussels everyday: £50 million quids worth, £350 million a week over which we have no control.

"These biscuits are an example of British dough that is well controlled.

"They know what's going to happen to these biscuits."

Commenting on his hairnet, which kept his typically wild blonde hair under wraps Mr Johnson added that he should "wear it more often".

Chairman of the company Philip McIvor believes Farmhouse Biscuits will do better if the UK votes to leave the EU because he already sells to countries all over the world.

Later, the group will visit a cattle market where they will meet farmers to discuss whether the UK should vote to leave or remain a member of the union.

Report from Kate McCann 

A clean break from the EU would put Britain in the strongest possible position to negotiate a practical trade deal, according to the Economists for Brexit group.

Patrick Minford has recommended that after a vote to leave the political bloc, the UK should eliminate all import tariffs and enjoy what he projects would be an 8pc fall in consumer prices.

Costs of manufacturing goods and food could fall particularly sharply, he claimed, citing these are strongly protected areas under EU rules.

In response, German car manufacturers would put strong pressure on the EU to give Britain a trade deal after June 23, in order not to lose business in a Britain where buying a vehicle could be 10pc cheaper.

Therefore, the UK would have "no need for a trade agreement", Mr Minford said. Trading using the low tariff rates guaranteed by the UK's membership of the World Trade Organisation would "set the UK up for a practical free trade deal, in a politically convenient way" he added.

Critics of Brexit have said that the UK would be likely to face huge hurdles to forging new trade deals after a decision to withdraw from the EU. It may be impractical to replace the current trade access the UK enjoys with EU members, and other economies the EU has trade deals with, within the next 15 years, the OECD has said.

Report from our Economics Correspondent Peter Spence 

Jeremy Corbyn has attacked Tory “prophecies of doom” about the consequences of Brexit as he repeatedly criticised the tone of the pro-EU campaign of which he is part. 

The Labour leader appeared to mock George Osborne’s suggestion that leaving the EU would create a “DIY recession” and criticised the “hype and histrionic claims” in the debate.

He also declined to say he would support staying in the EU if the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was agreed before the referendum. 

While there is very little chance of that happening the comment does hint at the shallowness of Mr Corbyn’s support for staying in the EU. 

Mr Corbyn begun his speech by saying: “There are just three weeks to go until the referendum vote on 23 June but too much of the debate so far has been dominated by myth-making and prophecies of doom. 

“In the final stage of this referendum, as we get closer to what is expected by many to be a very tight vote, it does not help the debate over such a serious issue if the hype and histrionic claims continue or worse intensify.

“I believe the EU has the potential to deliver positive change for the people of Britain if there was a radical, reforming government to drive that agenda. Too often what has held back the EU is having to move at the pace of the slowest. Too often that has been the British government.”

The speech is part of a deliberate strategy by the Labour leadership to distance themselves from the Conservatives while joining the in support of the EU by dubbing an Out vote “Tory Brexit”. 

Labour’s was badly damaged in Scotland when it saw a sudden collapse in support after the 2014 independence referendum, when it was branded as “being in bed with the Tories” for campaigning together on a pro-UK platform. 

Mr Cobryn also appeared to mock the idea that leaving the EU would trigger a downturn, saying: “Just over a week ago, George Osborne claimed that the British economy would enter a year-long recession if we voted to leave. This is the same George Osborne who predicted his austerity policies would close the deficit by 2015. That’s now scheduled for 2021.”

“It’s the same George Osborne who said the British economy would be “carried aloft by the march of the makers” yet the manufacturing sector has stagnated ever since, and manufacturing employment declined. 

 “The biggest risk of recession in this country is from a Conservative Government that is failing, failing on the deficit, failing on the debt, failing to rebalance the economy and failing to boost productivity.”

Report from Ben Riley-Smith

Iain Duncan Smith has accused the Prime Minister and the Electoral Commission of failing to block EU citizens from voting in the referendum.

The eurosceptic former work and pensions secretary gave David Cameron a 24 hour deadline to tackle concerns that some EU nationals have been sent polling cards and could vote illegally on June 23rd.

In a letter also sent to the Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, who is responsible for ensuring David Cameron does not break the rules, Mr Duncan Smith and Bernard Jenkin MP demanded urgent action after it emerged voting cards have been sent out to some people who are not eligible.

The two men also accuse the Prime Minister of "coordinating ... with other EU institutions" and imply the Government has not acted to clamp down on incorrect polling cards because EU nationals are more likely to back the Remain campaign. 

The letter states: "We have been contacted by a number of concerned electors who have alerted us to the fact that ineligible EU citizens have been sent polling cards telling them that they have a vote in the referendum on 23 June.

"There are no checks conducted to make sure anyone applying to vote is indeed eligible. "We believe the British public will be as shocked as we are to discover that the integrity of the franchise for this long-awaited referendum with profound consequences for the future of our nation is being protected in such a lax manner.

"The Government is campaigning for the EU to remain in ultimate control of UK laws. 

"It has spent considerable sums of taxpayers’ money to achieve this and has coordinated its activities with the EU institutions and other governments around the world. 

"Given the serious concerns that have been raised about the conduct of this referendum, what do you propose to do to correct the serious problems that have been identified?"

The Electoral Commission is understood to be publishing a letter on its website this afternoon in response. 

Matthew Elliot, chief executive of Vote Leave, said: "Cameron has broken all his promises to get immigration under 100,000. 

"He is spending our money to get Turkey, Albania, and Serbia to join the EU as soon as possible and he says he wants to 'pave the road' from Turkey to here. 

"Now we find out that EU migrants who should not be allowed to vote in this referendum are actually being given a vote. This is totally illegal. 

"There should be an urgent inquiry by the Cabinet Secretary, involving people outside the Cabinet Office who are clearly impartial, to discover who is responsible for illegally giving EU migrants the vote and undermining the foundation of our democratic process. Immediate action must be taken to avoid the integrity of our referendum being undermined."

Report from Kate McCann 

Jeremy Corbyn has blamed the press for the fact that many Labour voters do not know where the party stands on the EU referendum.

A recent leaked memo from the pro-EU campaigned suggested that just half of Labour voters realised their party supported an In vote in this month's vote on Britain's membership. 

Mr Corbyn - who voted no to the Common Market in 1975 but now supports a Remain vote - was asked for his reaction and whether he had done enough for the pro-EU campaign after a speech in central London.

The Labour leader responded that it was "partly down to media" how his party's stance was communicated - a comment that triggered cheers and applause from the audience of Labour supporters. 

The applause lasted close to 20 seconds some in the crowd turned to jeer journalists at the back of the room, with one shouting: "It's your fault". 

Some in the audience also booed when the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg was called for a question. Earlier this week it emerged Mr Corbyn had criticised the Corporation's coverage of his leadership during a behind-the-scenes documentary by Vice News.

Report from Ben Riley-Smith

The Labour leader failed to criticise Labour supporters  as they "booed and hissed" at Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC'c Political Editor.

More from Ben Riley-Smith at the Labour leader's speech.

The NHS will face "irreversible" privatisation if the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is adopted by the EU, Jeremy Corbyn has claimed in direction contradiction to David Cameron. 

The Labour leader said he shares concerns about the "secret" deal and pledged to repeal the agreement if he made it into power. 

The comments chime with eurosceptics who have argued Britain should leave the EU to avoid the impact the deal would have on the NHS - claims denied by the Prime Minister.

Speaking in central London, Mr Corbyn said: "Many thousands of people have written to me, with their concerns about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (or T-TIP) the deal being negotiated, largely in secret, between the US and the EU.  

"Many people are concerned rightly, that it could open up public services to further privatisation – and make privatisation effectively irreversible.  Others are concerned about any potential watering down of consumer rights, food safety standards, rights at work or environmental protections and the facility for corporations to sue national governments if regulations impinged on their profits. I share those concerns."

Ben Riley-Smith, our political correspondent, is listening to the Labour leader's speech in central London Jeremy Corbyn has warned that the EU referendum could be very close as he urged young voters to register before the deadline on June 7.

The Labour leader repeatedly criticised the Tory government during his latest pro-EU speech but said Brexit would be a "disaster" because it would be negotiated by the Conservatives.

He also praised Brussels for helping protect Britain's bee population - a similar point made by environmental charities in The Telegraph today.

"We can reform to get a better deal for consumers and strength worker rights" from the EU, Mr Corbyn said, adding the 28-country bloc can use its muscle to make companies stop  "taking consumers to the cleaners".

Mr Corbyn also hit out at the EU's handling of the Greek financial crisis, saying its demands for cuts were "counter-productive" and should have been "fairer".

The Labour leader is giving a speech on the EU at the Institute of Engineering Technology .

He attacks George Osborne over his "'histrionic" Brexit warnings.

Mr Corbyn says: "Just over a week ago, George Osborne claimed that the British economy would enter a year-long recession if we voted to leave. This is the same George Osborne who predicted his austerity policies would close the deficit by 2015. That’s now scheduled for 2021.

"It’s the same George Osborne who said the British economy would be “carried aloft by the march of the makers” yet the manufacturing sector has stagnated ever since, and manufacturing employment declined. 

"The biggest risk of recession in this country is from a Conservative Government that is failing, failing on the deficit, failing on the debt, failing to rebalance the economy and failing to boost productivity. "

Pushing environmental agenda, he accuses David Cameron of going from "hugging huskies to gassing badgers".

He says EU air quality regulations "save 80,000 lives a year across the continent".

He says: "Too often the British government has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into acting to protect our own environment. As we know, we have a Prime Minister who has lurched from ‘hug a huskie’ when he became Tory leader to, a decade on, ‘gas a badger’ and ‘poison the bees’. "

British expats could lose the right to live and work in Spain in the event of a Brexit vote, the country’s Prime Minister has suggested.

Mariano Rajoy said “it would be very negative for British citizens” if Britain were to leave the EU, because they would no longer be able to move freely around Europe.

More than 400,000 British citizens live and work in Spain, in comparison to 100,000 Spanish citizens who live and work in the United Kingdom, he claimed.

According to UN figures, the number of British people registered as resident in Spain is 309,000, making it the most popular destination in Europe for Britishexpats.

Speaking to Spanish international news agency EFE, Mr Rajoy said: "I have no doubt whatsoever, as I have repeatedly stated, that it would be very negative if the United Kingdom left the European Union. Negative for everybody, for the United Kingdom, for Spain, and for the European Union.

"But, above all, it would be very negative for British citizens: the European Union is based, ever since its foundation, on the principles of freedom of movement of people, goods, services, and capitals.

Read the full story here 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Abba songwriter Bjorn Ulvaeus and multiple Michelin Star chef Raymond Blanc are European stars urging Britain to "please stay" in the European Union.

They are among more than 140 stars from the world of culture, sport and science to sign a letter to the Times Literary Supplement (TLS) urging voters to vote Remain on June 23.

The signatories include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Academy Awards and the Palme D'Or as well as the Fields Medal for mathematics amongst other names from a wide variety of occupations.

Some, like restaurateur Blanc and long-standing Gunners boss Wenger, have long-running connections to the UK.

The letter, published in the TLS on Thursday, says: "It (the vote) is your decision, and we will all accept it.

"Nevertheless, if it will help the undecided to make up their minds, we would like to express how very much we value having the United Kingdom in the European Union.

"It is not just treaties that join us to your country, but bonds of admiration and affection.

"All of us hope that you will vote to renew them. Britain, please stay."

Actors to put their name to the letter include Swedish Thor and Avengers actor Stellan Skarsgard, French Highlander star Christopher Lambert, model and actress Isabella Rossellini, and French actress and director Julie Delpy.

They are joined by Paul Verhoeven, the Oscar-nominated Dutch director of films including Basic Instinct, Showgirls and RoboCop.

Sport signatories include Wenger and his fellow Frenchman Gerard Houllier, the former manager of Liverpool. They are joined by Arsenal's German defender Per Mertesacker and the French ex-Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf.

Britain's butterflies, bees and rare birds will be more at risk if the country votes to leave the EU, two of the UK's leading environmental charities have warned. 

In an article for The Daily Telegraph, the chief executives of WWF and RSPB claim the "safer option" for UK wildlife and environment is to remain in the EU. 

They also claim that the surge in recycling in Britain since the turn of the century is "largely" down to the laws made by Brussels. 

The intervention is an attempt to put the importance of Britain’s EU membership for wildlife and nature "at the heart" of the Remain campaign with the referendum just three weeks away. 

However the intervention could prove controversial, coming just months after Tory MPs accused environmental charities over overstepping the mark in their support of an In vote. 

Professor Patrick Minford, of Economists For Brexit, challenged claims that withdrawal from the EU would harm the UK economy, arguing that while Britain would face higher tariffs on trade with European neighbours, its ability to export to the rest of the world would be enhanced by the removal of "protectionist" EU barriers to trade.

Prof Minford, a former adviser to Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "What we've had from the consensus is fraudulent calculations about Brexit policies that would not happen.

"The right and optimal policy for the UK if it leaves is to go to global free trade. Then we don't need any of these deals ... New Zealand did this at the end of the '80s and made their economy much more successful."

Under global free trade arrangements, there "certainly would" be tariffs on British products and services sold into EU markets, said Prof Minford.

But he added: "We don't have to put all their external tariffs on the rest of the world, we (could) trade freely with the rest of the world. We (would) get rid of all the EU protectionism on all the stuff we buy from the rest of the world, which is an enormous benefit for the UK economy.

"The whole point of leaving the EU is to free ourselves of EU protectionism and EU regulationism."

But Lord Darling told Today: "There is nothing in the world that stops us from selling our goods and services to other parts of the world. Germany has been highly successful in exporting engineering and manufactured products and yet they are a key member of the EU - they've been in it longer than we have.

"At the moment, we have trade deals with about 53 countries as a result of our EU membership. If we leave the EU, that's 53 new deals we would have to negotiate. Are the Leave campaign really in a position to guarantee they would be as good as or better than we've got at the present time?"

Owen Smith, the shadow work and pensions secretary, speaking to the Today programme,  said the GMB leader Tim Roache was right to say Labour must increase its involvement in the referendum campaign

He said: “I think he is right. Tim knows that we’ve got to have a Labour case, it’s got to be a strong and distinct Labour case.

"There is a danger obviously that Labour voters will see this as something the Tories have been banging on about for the last 30 years and not something that bothers them. "

He added: “I will be urging Jeremy to redouble his efforts, but I know I don’t need to, because he understands, we all understand how important this is.”

Lord Darling, Labour's former chancellor, also told the Today programme: "I think that the GMB is quite right. There are many aspects of this referendum ... protection of workers' rights, protection of British industry.

"But equally, in relation to immigration, it's an issue that must be discussed.

"That's why I'm asking why, if the Leave campaign say we should be like Norway or Switzerland, will they not then accept that part of the deal there is they have to accept free movement of people?"

George Osborne has accused the campaign to leave the European Union of “uncosted and unworkable proposals” that would “damage” the British economy.

In an open letter with Alistair Darling, the former Labour chancellor, Mr Osborne sharply criticises the Leave campaign, which is led byMichael Gove and Boris Johnson, and suggests they have “no economic plan” and are “just making it up as they go along”.

His comments represent his strongest attack on the Leave campaign so far and are a sign that the Remain campaign wants to focus the argument back on the economy after days of questions from Brexit ministers about immigration.

They criticise Vote Leave for advocating pulling out of the single market in the event of a Brexit.

Their comments will be interpreted as a direct attack on Mr Gove and Mr Johnson. However, sources insisted it is not part of a “blue on blue attack” and is directed at the whole of the Leave campaign.

Read the full story here 

Mary Creagh , a senior backbencher, has urged the party to step up its campaigning amid signs that core Labour supporters still do not know what its position is on Europe.

It comes as  the boss of one of Britain's biggest unions has said the Remain campaign risks losing the June 23 referendum on Britain's EU membership if Labour fails to persuade its voters to go to the polls.

Ms Creagh said speeches were not enough to get Labour's message across, and the party should be fighting the campaign like a general election.

The Wakefield MP told the BBC's Today programme: "The danger in this campaign is that all Labour voices have been crowded out by the crisis and splits engulfing the Conservative Party.

"I've had emails from my constituents saying 'I'm a Labour voter but what's the Labour position?' I've been saying it locally, but that message isn't getting through on the ground.

"The danger is of leaders making a speech and then thinking everybody has heard it.

"I think we need to be treating this referendum as though it was a general election campaign and having everybody out on the doorstep and having a good ground campaign.

"It's important that we help people understand what this means for working people."

Vote Leave have said David Cameron has questions to answer on his "deeply unpopular" EU immigration policy.

They have released the results of a poll this morning suggesting voters are concerned about levels of immigration from the EU.

Almost half  of those questioned said levels of migration from the other 27 EU nations had been bad for the UK, against 26 per cent who thought they had been good. Some 58 per cent said they would be unhappy if the influx continued at its current rate, compared with 16 per cent who would not.

More than half respondents said EU migration in the last decade had been bad for the NHS, schools , housing , national security, jobs and wages .

Three out of five  said it would be bad for the UK if Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey joined the EU and 60 per cent agreed the UK should take back control over deportation powers from the European Court.

Vote Leave challenged Mr Cameron to admit that his renegotiation of the UK's EU membership had done "nothing" to limit free movement of people or to limit pressures on hospital waiting times, class sizes or housing.

Commenting, Iain Duncan Smith MP said: "David Cameron’s advisers claim that “no policy on immigration is the right policy”. They are showing a contempt for working families who struggle to pay the bills, to get the children into an overcrowded school or wait for a doctor's appointment.

"When I was in Government the Prime Minister wanted to impose limits on free movement of people from the EU, but sadly he failed. He now needs to set out how he plans to limit pressures on our NHS, schools and the housing crisis we face.

"If we vote to stay in, this will get worse when Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey join the EU. British taxpayers are paying them £2 billion to join the EU despite not supporting this policy. How can he justify ignoring the wishes of the people?"

Vote Leave have asked these questions: 

1 - Will you now admit that your EU renegotiation did nothing to limit the ‘free movement of people’ which is what most voters want?

2 - Will you now admit that your EU renegotiation will do nothing to limit pressures on hospital waiting times, class sizes or the housing crisis in this country?

3 - You promised to ensure that economic migrants from the EU would have a job offer before they came here. Why have you given up on that pledge?

4 - The British people are extremely worried about the possibility of Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey joining the EU - so why are you handing over £2 billion of taxpayers’ money to these countries? Do you still want to ‘pave the road from Ankara to Brussels’?

5 - Why do you want EU judges to be in control of which criminals we can and cannot deport?

David Cameron is appearing in the first EU Sky News TV debate this evening, so Remainers  may have hoped to spend the next few hours building up to it with a stream of key messages about the evils of Brexit.

However, this morning we report that the Justice Secretary Michael Gove has claimed that he has been forced to allow terror suspects to enter Britain because European Union rules left him powerless to intervene.

Mr Gove said that during his time in the Cabinet he “experienced frustration” at Britain’s “inability to refuse entry to those with a criminal record and even some who are suspected of terrorist links”.

His comments will intensify the debate over Britain’s porous borders and come as the Home Office is facing criticism for lax security along the UK’s coastline that is allowing people smugglers to bring migrants into the UK.

Setting out his vision for Britain outside of the EU, Mr Gove says that in the days after a Brexit, the Government would pass “emergency measures to curb the baleful influence” of the European Court of Justice.

Read the full story here 

Jeremy Corbyn will warn in a speech this morning that leaving the EU would be a "disaster" for ordinary Britons because the Conservatives cannot be trusted to protect workers' rights, 

In a speech at the Institute of Engineering Technology, he will insist the party is "overwhelmingly for staying in" because the EU has brought investment, jobs and rights.

"It's important to understand the benefit of these gains," he will say. "It means workers throughout Europe have decent rights at work, meaning it's harder to undercut terms and conditions across Europe."

High profile Labour figures, including London mayor Sadiq Khan, have joined forces with Conservatives to campaign for Britain to remain in the EU but Mr Corbyn has refused to share a platform with Tories.

He will say: "Several Leave supporters have stated clearly they want to leave Europe to water down workers' rights, to rip up the protections that protect work-life balance, that prevent discrimination and prevent exploitation and injustice.

"That is why we say, the threat to the British people is not the European Union - it is a Conservative government here in Britain, seeking to undermine the good things we have achieved in Europe and resisting changes that would benefit the ordinary people of Britain.

"A vote to Leave means a Conservative government would then be in charge of negotiating Britain's exit. Everything they have done as a government so far means we could not rely on them to protect the workplace rights that millions rely on. A Tory Brexit negotiation would be a disaster for the majority of people in Britain."

Jeremy Corbyn must be "bolder and braver" in making the case for immigration in the UK if he is to win over Labour voters to the cause of remaining in the European Union, according to one of Britain's biggest union leaders.

Ahead of the Labour leader's latest EU speech this morning, Tim Roache, who took over as general secretary of the GMB earlier this year, said Mr Corbyn must confront the "real issues in the minds of working people ... whether we like it or not".

He said: "I think Labour needs to be a bit more bold, it needs to be a bit more brave, in taking on the issues in working people's minds, rather than keeping silent about them, and I think that's what Labour's done for too long."

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Roache said the Remain camp would lose the referendum battle if Labour voters "stay at home" on June 23.

"I think they won't see it as the absolutely crucial vote that it is and I also think that they see it as a bunfight in the Tory Party," he said.

"The reality is that the more people that stay at home the more likely it is that we will leave the EU. I don't think we can even begin to contemplate that."

He also said he thought Mr Corbyn could do more to support the campaign.